New tool to monitor coral reef 'vital signs'

Date:

March 17, 2011

Source:

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science

Summary:

Scientists have created a new tool to monitor coral reef vital signs. By accurately measuring their biological pulse, scientists can better assess how climate change and other ecological threats impact coral reef health worldwide.

Share:

Total shares:

FULL STORY

A team of scientists from the University of Miami, University of Puerto Rico, WHOI, Doherty Earth Observatory and the USGS developed and tested a new methods to monitor biological productivity at Cayo Enrique Reef in Puerto Rico. The invention measures dissolved oxygen production and consumption rates, allowing scientists to monitor the balance between the production of new organic matter by corals and algae, and the consumption of that organic matter by the reef's heterotrophs, which are essential to assessing the health of coral reef ecosystems.

Credit: C. Langdon

A team of scientists from the University of Miami, University of Puerto Rico, WHOI, Doherty Earth Observatory and the USGS developed and tested a new methods to monitor biological productivity at Cayo Enrique Reef in Puerto Rico. The invention measures dissolved oxygen production and consumption rates, allowing scientists to monitor the balance between the production of new organic matter by corals and algae, and the consumption of that organic matter by the reef's heterotrophs, which are essential to assessing the health of coral reef ecosystems.

Credit: C. Langdon

University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science scientist Chris Langdon and colleagues developed a new tool to monitor coral reef vital signs. By accurately measuring their biological pulse, scientists can better assess how climate change and other ecological threats impact coral reef health worldwide.

During a March 2009 experiment at Cayo Enrique Reef in Puerto Rico, the team tested two new methods to monitor biological productivity. They compared a technique that measures changes in dissolved oxygen within a chamber that encloses an area of water above the reef with one that measures the flux of dissolved oxygen across the turbulent boundary layer above an unconfined portion of the seafloor.

By measuring dissolved oxygen production and consumption rates, scientists were able to monitor the balance between the production of new organic matter by the corals and algae and the consumption of that organic matter by the reef's heterotrophs, which are essential to assessing the health of coral reef ecosystems.

A combination of these methods is a valuable tool for assessing and studying the effects of climate change on coral reef health, according to the authors.

According to a recent analysis by the World Resources Institute, nearly 75 percent of the world's coral reefs are currently threatened by human activities and ecological disturbances, such as rising ocean temperatures, increased pollution, overfishing and ocean acidification.

Measurements of biological productivity have typically been made by tracing changes in dissolved oxygen in seawater as it passes over a reef. However, this is a labor intensive and difficult method, requiring repeated measurements. The new method opens up the possibility of making long-term, unattended, high-temporal resolution measurements of photosynthesis and respiration of coral reefs and any other benthic ecosystems.

The study was published in the March issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The paper's co-authors are Langdon, Wade R. McGillis of Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Brice Loose of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Kim K. Yates of the U.S. Geological Survey, and Jorge Corredor of the University of Puerto Rico.

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. (2011, March 17). New tool to monitor coral reef 'vital signs'. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 2, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110317102559.htm

July 31, 2015  Resettlement projects in the Amazon are driving severe tropical deforestation, according to new research. Widely hailed as a socially responsible and 'innocuous' strategy of land redistribution, ... read more

July 31, 2015  The humble butterfly could hold the key to unlocking new techniques to make solar energy cheaper and more efficient, pioneering new research has shown. By mimicking the v-shaped posture adopted by ... read more

July 30, 2015  China needs to reduce its dependence on coal and improve the range of fuels it uses if it is to have long term energy security, according to new research. The study looks at the future of electricity ... read more

July 30, 2015  North of the Aleutian Islands, submarine canyons in the cold waters of the eastern Bering Sea contain a highly productive 'green belt' that is home to deep-water corals as ... read more

July 30, 2015  New findings have implications for questions regarding how animals and plants grow minerals into shapes that have no relation to their original crystal symmetry, and why some ... read more

July 30, 2015  A new study addresses an important question in climate science: how accurate are climate model projections? Climate models are used to estimate future global warming, and their accuracy can be ... read more

Apr. 28, 2015  As well as being a beautiful species capable of changing its colour, shape and even gender, new research shows that parrotfish, commonly found on healthy coral reefs, can also play a pivotal role in ... read more

Sep. 15, 2014  Coral reef ecologists fear that reef biodiversity may not provide the level of insurance for ecosystem survival that we once thought. This study found that even in high-diversity systems, such as ... read more

Apr. 29, 2014  Increasing ocean temperatures due to climate change will soon see reefs retaining and nurturing more of their own coral larvae, leaving large reef systems less interconnected and potentially more ... read more